Posted 4 years ago on March 23, 2012, 8:31 p.m. EST by bensdad
(8977)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

Bo Morrison: Wisconsin's own Trayvon Martin
by kazoo of the north

People who have families in Wisconsin that go back more than 100 years have ancestral memories of surprising, uninvited, visitors. In the 1800's, the indigenous peoples of Wisconsin were known to walk into a house, warm themselves by the fire, and then leave. Fires in homes were viewed as communal property, which any cold person could use on their way to where they were going. They would not insult the owner of a fire by thinking inhospitable thoughts about them. Traditions go back to the French and Indian fur trading alliance. Traditions die.

One of the things we do a lot in Wisconsin is go out drinking at night. That leads us to do other dumb things. Running from the cops, away from a late night drinking party, is a kind of underage right of passage. I'm not advocating it. But let's not call out the SWAT team snipers every time the 20 year old is having beer.

But to be 20 years of age, African American, wearing a hoodie, and too drunk to not know enough to open the wrong door, can get you killed in Wisconsin.

The first test of Wisconsin's new "Castle Doctrine" has resulted in no criminal charges against the homeowner who shot a man dead on his porch. The district attorney says the homeowner acted in self-defense when he shot 20 year old Bo Morrison .
The victim's family demanded charges despite the homeowner's contention that he thought Morrison was breaking into his house
Friends who were with Morrison that night say he was just hiding after police arrived at an underaged drinking party next door.

Also: get a load of the rascist comments:
That's right baby factories! Warn them chittlenz not to go where they don't belong!
I really believe there was a time we were better than this. That's probably just my delusion talking, there.
What really gets me is that with the new "Castle Doctrine," we have a new class of little blowhards who feel perfectly qualified to decree under what conditions they can go ahead and kill someone:
Break in, stumble in or sneak into my house and you will be shot. Sometimes people have to learn the hard way. You don't break into a house in the middle of the night........or you just might die.

I don't see much introspection here. Maybe a little self doubt could go a long way. If you just stop and think for a second, you might not kill your drunk neighbor, drunk Uncle, or drunk offspring. This new breed of "Castle Doctrine" and "Stand Your Ground" laws, gifts of the NRA lobby, seem to be leading to a new kind of story, pushing the outer limits of tragedy and sadness.

If a neighbor sees a fire in your house and calls the fire department, and a fireman breaks down your door to save your life, you have the legal right to kill the fireman.

6 Comments

Read the Journal Sentinel online people! This doesn't even remotely compare to Trayvon. Shameful to even print that. This man was hiding out in a strangers home. He had to open a door to get into the 3 seasons rm. It was dark and his blood alcohol level was 1.9!! The shooter has a wife and family to protect. The vicitm had charges pending against him, was out on bail, and shouldn't have been drinking in the first place. He rose from a crouched position, took a step towards the shooter and got shot. Hello!!! If someone were to break and enter into your home would you tell them to come on in and have a chat. We have the right to protect our families. Teach your children to grow up and be responsible instead of getting into trouble and trying to run and hide. Sometimes when you break and enter, you get shot. The man had called the police once and was then heard someone in his home. He has a wife and children to protect. If I heard someone in my home, I would do whatever it took to protect my family.

Walk around Milwaukee some time pretending that you don't need to worry about young black males. Let us know how that goes for you. LOL

Trayvon was the victim of the shooter and the victim of so many unhinged young black males that helped create and validate the stereotype. Without the cloud of suspicion brought about in part by the behavior of other young black males, he might be alive today.

White Catholics in "hoods" killed thousands of Arabs trying to capture the holy city.
White protestants in hoods lynched hundreds of black men.
Stereotype are not appropriate in America.
They are appropriate of groupthinking.

More blacks kill other blacks annually than whites killed blacks by lynching in all American history. Sorry.

Stereotypes are appropriate in America, they're appropriate everywhere. They work. Finding anecdotes of them not working isn't evidence of stereotypes not working; proving something isn't 100% is no evidence that something isn't likely. Of course, they can also be outright wrong, that's true. But the stereotype about young black males isn't one of them. I wish it wasn't true too, but not to the point of denying reality.

Our responsibility is to use them responsibly, to error in terms of giving people a break versus the stereotype, and to be ready for the stereotype, whatever it's about, not to hold. But we have no responsibility to simply be stupid and pretend they lack value.